Chapter 480 - 480: Sleeping Together

After escaping the Amazoness sisters' teasing, Ais finally spotted the tent she was looking for.

The breeze carried a slight chill, just enough to cool the burning heat on her cheeks.

The little Ais in her heart felt as if she were doing something bad. She held a finger to her lips and kept reminding the blonde girl, "Shh! Shh!"

There were pretty girls all around. If they discovered her, it would definitely cause a commotion.

Carrying the unconscious Bell on her back, Ais crept forward on tiptoe.

"Good evening, Ais-san…? Why is Bell Cranel here? Is he hurt?"

Lefiya glanced over only once before hurrying in front of the blonde girl.

Her eyes widened as she anxiously checked the boy's condition.

"I'm going to sleep with Bell…"

Ais answered without hiding anything.

"…Huh? Absolutely not?! How could you do something like that? No, no!"

Lefiya hurriedly stopped her.

For a moment, she could not even tell which side she was on, or what emotion had driven her to object.

Lefiya simply followed her instincts and stood in front of Ais.

"We're just sleeping. I won't do anything strange…"

Ais tried to use the same wording as before to persuade the honey-blonde Elf.

But Lefiya did not back down at all.

"Bell Cranel is completely unconscious. He wouldn't make such an unreasonable request, would he?"

Lefiya claimed the moral high ground.

Staring at the boy's white hair, she added, "If you do this, Ais-san, wouldn't that mean going against Bell Cranel's wishes?"

"..."

The honey-blonde Elf's judgment left Ais momentarily speechless.

She could not help remembering what had happened earlier.

"Sleep together?"

Even Bell, who was usually calm, was startled by Ais's words and repeated them back on his own.

"Mm…"

Ais answered decisively.

"..."

In that instant, several options surfaced in Bell's mind.

First, find an excuse to slip away and hurry back to his own tent. But that would probably make the blonde girl sad.

Second, directly bring up the importance of the expedition and reject Ais's invitation.

Third, accept the invitation to sleep together, step into the women's resting area, and sleep beside the airheaded girl, causing his reputation to crash straight into the ground.

No matter which one he chose, wasn't it too cruel?

So Bell chose to sacrifice himself and carve out an entirely new path.

"Ais-san, I can sleep with you, but I definitely won't be able to stop myself from touching your body."

Bell answered softly.

"…? No?"

A faint cherry-blossom blush bloomed across Ais's cheeks.

The only thing she could accept was the fact that they would sleep together. Physical contact and the like were absolutely out of the question.

The little Ais in her heart clenched her fists and waited for the boy's response.

"Don't say that. I'm a boy, after all, and you're so beautiful, Ais-san. If we sleep together, I'm sure I won't be able to stop myself from crossing the line. I really do want to accept your invitation, Ais-san, but what I just said is also true."

Bell smiled as he closed the distance between them.

In the next instant, the blonde girl's fist, worthy of the Sword Princess name, landed on Bell's head.

"That solves it…"

Ais supported the boy as he fainted.

As long as Bell fell asleep first, she could carry him into the tent herself and avoid anything embarrassing…

But why had Bell not reacted at all? It was almost as if he had predicted her attack.

Ais did not understand at all.

What she did not know was that this, too, was part of the boy's plan.

As long as Bell passed out, all responsibility would fall on Ais. And the women of Loki Familia knew very well just how airheaded this girl was, so most of them would turn a blind eye. After all, Bell had not seen anything he should not have.

...

Ais pulled herself back from her thoughts and looked at Lefiya blocking her path.

"Bell already agreed, so it's fine…"

Ais told a lie.

She felt terribly guilty, but Bell had said he really wanted to sleep with her, so that meant he had agreed, right?

"Agreed? Mm… Was Ais-san the one who brought it up?"

Lefiya's mind spun rapidly as she tried to digest the blonde girl's shocking statement.

Just how airheaded did someone have to be to make a request like that?

Lefiya felt as if her mood had sunk to rock bottom. She could not quite describe what kind of feeling it was, only that it was unbearable. Just imagining the two of them sleeping together made her chest ache.

"I-I'm joining you too!"

Lefiya declared fiercely.

She could not think of any good reason to persuade this airheaded girl otherwise, so she could only choose the option that gave her some peace of mind and insert herself into this farce.

"If it's Lefiya… then it's fine…"

Ais had meant to refuse, but guilt stopped her.

Lefiya and Bell already liked each other. Ais had stolen something that belonged to her…

Anyway, it was only sleeping together. One more person would not make much difference.

"I'll go change!"

Lefiya hurried off toward a tent.

After she changed into loose pajamas and entered the tent where Ais was, the sight before her startled her.

"Ryuu-san? Alicia-san? Mm… even Aki is here?!"

"I only tripped and fell here by accident…"

Ryuu offered a clumsy lie.

"I came to stop the Little Rookie from doing anything bad!"

Alicia declared righteously.

"The tent is big enough anyway. There's nothing wrong with everyone sleeping together."

Anakitty lay calmly on the bedding.

"I'm sleeping next to Argonaut-kun~"

"Tiona, have a little restraint… Hiss, why are there so many people?"

The Amazoness sisters slipped into the tent one after the other.

Once everything finally quieted down, soft breathing rose and fell inside the tent.

"Bell, good night…"

Ais looked at the boy beside her and slowly closed her eyes.

There were a few more people than expected, but the fact that she and Bell were sleeping together had not changed…

...

After an unknown amount of time, the boy regained consciousness.

Everything was going according to plan.

Bell had thrown himself into the situation for an even deeper reason. The moment he woke up, he would surely be able to behold a sight beyond compare.

A man should climb the highest peaks and challenge every impossibility.

Following his plan, Bell opened his eyes.

One second.

Even if it was only for an instant, even if he would be punished by a fist afterward, it would be enough for Bell to carve everything into his heart.

However, what appeared in his vision was not golden hair, but breathtaking emerald-green locks.

Riveria and the boy looked at each other for a moment.

In the empty tent, the two of them were under the same blanket, half a meter apart.

Riveria's beautiful hair was pinned beneath her, giving the scene a shy intimacy, as though they were sharing a bed.

The Elf princess lay on her side and looked at the boy. The corners of her mouth lifted into a gentle smile.

"Bell, I don't know what you're scheming, but you'd better keep pretending to sleep. If you're found out, I won't be able to help you."

"..."

Bell was speechless.

Had she carried him away from Ais?

How had she done that?

And where was he now?

Never mind. Being able to see this beautiful sight was already enough.

Time to sleep…

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